Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Quito (Agenzia Fides) – The Department for Mission and Spirituality has organized an encounter, September 7-11, on popular piety in the Aparecida Document, the Continental Mission in Shrines and from Shrines, in the region of the “Bolivarian” nations.
Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes of Iquique (Chile), Head of the Popular Piety and Shrines Department of CELAM, has invited all shrine rectors of the region to participate in an encounter on Popular Piety and Shrines, with the theme: Popular Piety in the Aparecida Document; The Continental Mission in and from the shrines.” The event is scheduled to be held in Quito (Ecuador), September 7-11, 2009. The main objective is to discuss, analyze, and reflect on pastoral work with popular piety and its potential, towards a study on the presence of Popular Piety and Shrines in the Latin American culture, from the Biblical, catechetical, litugical, and missionary perspective of the Church.
As the statement recalls, the Holy Father emphasized the “rich and profound popular religion, in which the soul of the Latin American peoples is perceived,” and he presented as “the precious treasure of the Catholic Church in Latin America.” He invited them to promote and protect it. Thus, the final document of Aparecida emphasized that “this manner of expressing the faith is present in various forms in all social sectors, in a multitude that is worthy of our respect and affection, because their piety reflects a thirst for God that only the poor and simple can perceive.” The “religion of the Latin American people is an expression of the Catholic faith. It is popular Catholicism,” profoundly rooted in the culture, which has the most valuable dimension of Latin American culture. (DA, 258). He also acknowledged that in these privileged places, “the pilgrim lives the experience of a mystery that surpasses him, not only in the transcendence of God, but also the Church, which transcends his family and his neighborhood. In the shrines, many pilgrims make life-changing decisions. These walls contain many stories of conversions, forgiveness, and gifts that have been received, that millions could bear witness to.” (DA, 260) (RG) (Agenzia Fides 17/7/2009)
